Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi,
Pardon my lamens terminology with "thingys", but I have no idea what these things are. I got two Common Musks (I named 'em Romulus and Remus)a few weeks ago and they are doing awsome, but one hasn't been growing as fast as the other. The one with the "thingys" (Remus) had this small white spot appear on the top of his head. At first I thought it might just be a fluke spot of color developing, but then I noticed it was raised up, like a small whie scab, and one also developed on his neck, right under the skin on his neck, but its only visible when his neck is fully extended, and its quite a bit longer than the other one. I clean them out every few days and they're fed Reptomin and other small insects that I catch, but I dont know what these things are and how one of them is getting them and the other is fine. He eats plenty and is more active then the other, so they dont seem to be hindering him at all. If anyone has ANY idea at all of what these things are or how I can get rid of 'em, PLEASE let me know!
Thanks in advance
Kris Diekema

well romulus and remus are supposed to grow at different rates right?
but not sibling turtles i suppose (though it is very common also)
the white stuff sounds like fungus.
can you get a pic.
is it flaky?
doe sit appear to be lots of little things close togther ot would you describe it more as a solid mass (each white section that is)
careful with the wild insects and parasites/pestcides that they may carry.
try to get a picture up

I assumed they were siblings as they arrived from the same guy and were the same size when I got them. The two spots dont appear to be flaky, I'm guessing that if they were flaky, the one wouldn't be protruding slightly from the skin. If it is a Fungus, how would I go about getting rid of it? I dont worry at all about pesticides in the insects here, I live in the sticks and theres really no way the insects could ingest or carry anything harmful like that. If it is a Fungus, wouldn't it also spread to the other Turtle? They come in contact with each other all the time and sleep right next to each other. I'll try and get some pictures up as soon as I get some good ones taken.
Kris

Sounds like it could be fungus. However common musk hatchlings do have alot of white spots on them when they are young. Is the "stuff" just hanging there or what? Can you get pics of it?

here's a pic of a common musk I just hatched out yesterday. Notice all the white on it.

Jeff H.

J & S Herpetoculture

Well, they dont seem to be changing or getting any worse, so for now I'll just keep a close eye on him, they might just be odd spots. If they do change or get any bigger, what should be done about maybe getting rid of them? Pick em off or treat the water, or what?

If it's just fungus, you can just add a bit of salt to the water(VERY LITTLE). I usually bit a tiny bit of salt in the water off all my aquatic turtles to keep fungus at bay. A good ratio is 1 teaspoon to 30 gallons of water(as you can see......very little...)
J & S Herpetoculture